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When the Nexus One first came out, there was some question about wireless N.  Mainly why didn’t it work.   N1 users who were rooted and running Cyanogen Mod started seeing some 802.11n goodness last month, but now it’s official.  Wireless N support is included in Froyo.  You probably won’t notice much speed difference (at least I didn’t) as even the Snapdragon processor can only process so much information.  But the increase in signal strength and range is awesome — especially for spending a Sunday morning out on the deck reading the news with a pot of coffee and a cigar.  I used to have to depend on Sprint 3G and my Hero to do that, but Froyo lets me bring the N1 out for some fresh air and to join the party.

(Thanks, John (and Google)! Find a cool new feature in Froyo and want to tell the world about it? E-mail us here and we’ll make you famous!)

This is a post by Android Central. It is sponsored by the Android Central Accessories Store

Last week saw another mini-flight to safety.  The Euro was pushed down to the lowest point in about 4 years (before recovering), US Treasuries and other Bonds saw yet again an influx of scared money fleeing the global financial markets in drones.  But within this trend towards the illusive safety, many investors forget that US Treasuries and similar AAA rated sovereign debt instruments are not without risk.  I am not referring to pure credit risk but also to the inherent risk from the mechanics of Bond prices.  Although this is very basic, here’s a graphic reminder of the relationship of Bond prices to changes in interest rates.

The prices of Bonds, particularly the longer term Bonds (10, 20, 30 years), are rather sensitive to changes in interest rates.  Unless you hold a Bond to maturity, its price can fluctuate rendering your investment not all that risk-free after all.  Pension funds, Bond funds and Bond ETFs are not immune to this – something to consider before pouring all your money into the “safest of all” asset classes.

US short term rates are still at zero which makes it less likely that Bond prices could rise much further.  But let’s assume that the US will experience a multi-decade period of near zero short-term interest rates just like Japan since 1990.  What is the likelihood that longer-term Treasuries will retain their current ratings allowing them to continue to finance deficits at ultra-low rates?

IMHO, the Greek and Euro-zone crisis should serve as a wake-up call.  The long-held believe in the risk-free rate is beginning to fade.  Several US States, California being one of them, have budget deficits approaching Greek standards. Unfunded liabilities continue to rise, entitlement cuts are political suicide and therefore they cut the lowest hanging fruit first, education being one of them. 

For California, the proposed budget cuts in education have been so drastic that some Bond ratings agencies are now concerned about the long-term impact of these measures.  California and other US States are slowly approaching a tipping point of being no longer economically viable.   

In order to assess the credit worthiness of say a 20-year municipal Bond, ratings agencies must now consider whether California will have an educated enough labor pool to continue generating enough middle-class earners for the much needed tax revenues. By cutting education to the bone, governments dumb down society as a whole rendering their own state or country unable to get out of the debt spiral. For now, the ratings agencies are merely concerned that their clients might actually be paid back in 20 years.   

But with further cuts in education and other areas which contribute to the long-term economic viability of society, we should not only be concerned as long-term Bond investors.  Instead of cutting education, research & development programs for new and alternative energy, California as well as other States should heed the wake-up call from Greece. They must come up with cost-cutting measures for programs that do NOT contribute to sustainable long-term growth i.e. ridiculous pension and entitlement programs or building bridges to nowhere. If they don’t, the consequences are also clear.  Long-term financing at ultra-low rates will become increasingly difficult not just for California, Michigan and New York but it will affect US Treasuries, the mother of all  “risk-free” investments.

This guest post previously appeared at FXIS Market Insights >

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Members of the House Education and Labor Committee are holding a satellite hearing this morning in Beckley, W.Va., to examine the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, which killed 29 Massey miners and almost killed a 30th not far from Beckley.

What’s striking is how closely today’s testimony from UBB miners and their families resembles the damning stories about Massey’s corporate culture that we’ve been hearing about from former Massey miners since the April 5 tragedy.

For instance, Stanley Stewart, a UBB miner for 15 years who was underground during the blast, told lawmakers today that the ventilation system inside the mine suffered constant problems, and (worse) Massey higher-ups never really cared to fix them.

“The area of the mine [where] we were working was liberating a lot of methane,” Stewart said. “Mine management never fully addressed the air problem when it would be shut down by inspectors. They would fix it just good enough to get us to load coal again, but then it would be back to business as usual.”

My experience in the mines showed me that the ventilation system they had didn’t work. And with so much methane being liberated, and no air moving it gave me the feeling that area was a ticking time bomb. I was told prior to the April 5th explosion, that they had experienced at least 2 fireballs on the drum of the shearer.

This leads me to believe the methane was indeed building in that area, showing lack of air and ventilation problems. One question that I have is how could methane build up to that point where a fireball could start? How could this happen if the methane detectors had been working?

A longer piece on this to follow.

Search in calendar and contacts (most fields). See an Agenda of upcoming events. Dial, send SMS or Email directly from the results list. If you sync your Palm Pre or Pixi with Google, then this App provides all these features for you. Additional features: Tap on a found event or contact to go to the day in the calendar or to the detail screen of the contact on your phone. Partial word search. Filter by calendars and contact groups (categories). Contacts can be sorted and grouped by name, last name, company or zip code. You can even use the power of RegExp for some search types! This is a much enhanced version of our App "Google Calendar Search". Enhancements include search in contacts, multiple accounts, partial (sub-string) search, Agenda mode and highlighting in results. New in this version: Experimental Turbo mode (enable in Preferences) for even faster calendar searches and option to not save passwords.

MEMC Electronic Materials will acquire Solaicx for its efficient solar manufacturing technology at a price tag of approx $100 Million. …

… “Solaicx has developed proprietary continuous crystal growth manufacturing technology which yields low-cost, high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon wafers for the photovoltaic solar industry. The Solaicx technology allows for very high-volume crystal growth compared to the silicon ingots produced in the traditional precision semiconductor manufacturing process. The enhanced electrical performance of wafers from Solaicx ingots allows solar cell manufacturers to create higher efficiency cells with very competitive silicon costs. In addition to these customer benefits, the combined company will have low-cost polysilicon and crystal operations in North America and sales and support offices around the world, allowing the company to provide customers with industry leading customer service. ” …

Via MEMC Electronics Materials: Agreement to Acquire Solaicx (Link).

An Australian supermodel, Miranda Kerr, has put together a list of tips men should follow to keep their women happy and their relationships strong. (Article courtesy of reader J.N.)

Kerr revealed her top 10 romance tips to readers of AskMen.com, who voted her most desirable Australian woman in the world. They are:

1. Buy the right size

2. Listen to her

3. Connect with her

4. Know what you want

5. Don’t be afraid to show her love

6. Tell her she is beautiful and romance her

7. Get a baby sitter

8. Be healthy

9. Pamper her

10. Treat her like a goddess

Fascinating! In the interest of generous reciprocation, I offer my list of Chateau-approved tips for women to help keep the romance alive in their relationships.

1. Spend his money to buy yourself clothes in the right size. Men like it when they are made to feel like dutiful ATMs.

2. Talk to him. Constantly.

3. Connect with him emotionally. Sex should be an afterthought to connection.

4. Know what you want from him.

5. Don’t be afraid to withdraw love. Men like to chase.

6. Tell him he is your best friend. Punctuate with warm hug and three pats on the back.

7. Get a baby sitter so that he may spend lots of money on you at fancy restaurants and the theater so that you return home too tired for sex.

8. Be healthy. Duh. This needed its own tip?

9. Ignore him.

10. Treat him like a therapist… who also happens to be penis-less.

~~~

Naturally, Chateau decorum insists on the utmost adherence to sarcasm when the moment calls for it. This was on of those moments. The lovely Miranda Kerr’s list may as well have been titled “Top 10 Romance Tips for Men Who are Already Alpha Enough to Afford Handicapping Their Attractiveness”, or perhaps “Bottom 10 Romance Tips for Beta Males Who Yearn for the Closure of Being Dumped”.

Similarly, my list would work great for 9s and 10s who are dating men so grateful to be with them that the men will put up with all sorts of shit. For the rest of womankind, my romance tips would have any man with a shred of dignity and a molecule of testosterone left in his sack running for the hills.

Kerr’s list — and just about all female relationship advice — neatly demonstrates one of the Chateau’s maxims:

CR Maxim #57: Never trust a woman’s advice on how to please women. Her advice is designed for alpha men she already finds attractive and from whom she seeks signals of attainability and commitment.

Corollary to Maxim #57: A woman’s sex and relationship advice isn’t meant to help men; it’s meant to distract men from what really works to turn women on.

Filed under: Relationships, Ridiculousness

Bears have been body-slamming stocks most recently, and today the market is wobbly, but there are many fundamental and sentiment-based reasons why they’ll be proven over-eager according to Deutsche Bank.

DB is overweight U.S. equities, and they fired a barrage of bullish charts in their Fear and Fundamentals U.S. equity strategy.

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Don’t believe the hype? See why China could be heading down.

See why China could be going down and bring the world with it >

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Apple will open its Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote presentation from CEO Steve Jobs on Monday June 7 at 10:00 am (local time in San Francisco, USA). This year’s WWDC sold out the seats available for more than 5,000 developers in the record time of eight days.

The five-day event being held from 7 to 11 June, aims to provide advanced content and experienced developers in five key technology areas: Application Frameworks, Internet and Web, Graphics & Media, Development Tools, and Core OS.

Apple engineers taught more than 100 technical sessions and workshops aimed at solutions. The WWDC 2010 offers a community “very broad and heterogeneous” the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow developers to iPhone and iPad from all around the world.

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3. Apple iPhone Update: Free iPhone Apps!

According to the latest issue of GamePro, Killzone 3 will be fully in 3D, at least if you have the hertz for it. Props to them for taking the bull by the horns; let’s hope it’s less of a sham than that last Killzone media frenzy. I’ve heard it said that games are the only worthwhile application for 3D — that’s a statement that I don’t agree with, but perhaps Killzone 3 may be a good example of just how good 3D can be.

An FPS is a natural match for 3D, but I really wonder, given how many people have gotten motion sickness and so on from 3D cinema, whether it might be too much at first. I know people who get sick playing racing games — some people are simply susceptible to it. It’ll be an interesting litmus test. The game will also be playable in non-3D for those of you who don’t have the ’spensive TVs it takes to make the magic happen.

Also, I want to take issue with their claim of being the first full-3D FPS. Have they already forgotten Faceball 2000 for the Virtual Boy?

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) agreed to buy Sterling Commerce from AT&T Inc. for $1.4 billion. The transaction will likely close in the second half of 2010, the companies said.

IBM has spent nearly a lot on deals in the first quarter as it did last year. The company said that by 2015, it would spend $20 billion on acquisitions. Recently, IBM is into the software business, which has been the most profitable and fastest growing segment. IBM is moving away from the hardware business, after dropping its computer business in 2004 to Lenovo.

The Sterling deal ranks among the highest in recent years. Sterling Commerce is a technology company that connects businesses with their suppliers, customers and partners to improve efficiencies.

AT&T expects to gain a $750 million increase on the transaction once it’s completed. 2,500 Sterling employees towill be transferred to IBM.

This acquisition is necessary for IBM to stay on top of the competition with giant companies like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Cisco Systems Inc.

Related posts:

1. IBM expects to double profits in 2015
2. Mirant and RRI Merger- Form Second largest U.S. Power Company
3. AT&T Takes A Giant Step, Plans $1 Billion Charge For Health Care

Motorola is planning to launch 20 Android smartphones this year, so we know there will be a steady flow of releases coming in the second half of this year. We have seen some interesting designs (like the Flipout), but many of us are still waiting to see what Motorola does with their high-end lineup.

We have heard rumors of the Motorola Shadow, but nothing solid has come out on a next generation device yet. Now someone over at Howard Forums has posted an image of the manual for an upcoming Motorola device.

No official product name was provided, but we can clearly see the Droid branding being used. Possible names include the Droid 2, Droid Shadow, and Droid Xtreme.

If the rumors and speculation are true, we will find another Texas Instruments processor inside the next Droid. Look for the 720 MHz OMAP3630, which is an upgrade to the OMAP3430 found in the Droid. The OMAP3630 features a faster clocked CPU and is built on the new 45 nm process which reduces power consumption.

The device is also said to be roughly 9 mm in thickness, so it looks like a physical keyboard is not an option this time around. Four physical buttons are located on the front of the phone and it looks like Motorola has adopted the optical trackball (like we have seen on newer HTC models). We will have to wait and see which version of Android this phone ships with, but expect it to feature the next revision of MOTOBLUR.

If you are on Verizon, does this Motorola device have enough to make you bite? It looks like a pretty even match-up with the Incredible, but I do like the larger display and HDMI out.

Rumored specs of the upcoming Droid include:

• 4.1″ TFT FWVGA screen
• 720 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 3630 Processor
• 2GB -8GB internal memory
• Android 2.1 (Eclair), possibly 2.2 (Froyo) upon launch
• MOTOBLUR
• 8 MP camera with 720p video recording
• 1080p output via HDMI port
• Roughly 9mm in thickness

Related Posts

• Possible Droid 2 passes Wi-Fi certification
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You can’t slip much past dedicated amateur astronomers. A month after the United States Air Force launched its space plane, the X-37B, under a veil of secrecy, backyard sky-watchers say they’ve found it, along with clues to its mission.

Though the military still won’t open up about what the classified X-37B actually is, officers have been insistent about what it isn’t: a space weapon. Indeed, defense experts have guessed recently that the craft is testing next-generation spy satellite tech, and the observations back that up.

The amateur sky watchers have succeeded in tracking the stealthy object for the first time and uncovering clues that could back up the surveillance theory. Ted Molczan, a team member in Toronto, said the military spacecraft was passing over the same region on the ground once every four days, a pattern he called “a common feature of U.S. imaging reconnaissance satellites.” In six sightings, the team has found that the craft orbits as far north as 40 degrees latitude, just below New York City. In theory, on a clear night, an observer in the suburbs might see the X-37B as a bright star moving across the southern sky [The New York Times].

In addition, the plane’s path would carry it over places the U.S. is interested in watching, like Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea, according to Greg Roberts, one of the astronomers to track the X-37B. More than uncovering its secret mission, he was interested in finding the plane because it was difficult. Said Roberts:

“If the data were freely available, we would probably not have bothered with it. I see little sense in tracking objects for which data is freely available. It’s like reinventing the wheel. So as long as there are missions with little or no information, I personally will be interested in the challenge of finding them” [MSNBC].

For more about the Air Force in space, check out DISCOVER blogger Phil Plait’s post at Bad Astronomy.

Related Content:
Bad Astronomy: What Is the Air Force Doing with Space?
80beats: Air Force to Launch Secret Space Plane Tomorrow—But Don’t Ask What It’s For
80beats: DARPA Loses Contact with Mach-20 “Hypersonic Glider” During Test Flight

Image: U.S. Air Force

Simon Monjack, the husband of the late actress Brittany Murphy, was found dead after five months after the Hollywood actress died. Monjack, a 39-year old British screenwriter, was found dead Sunday night in the master’s bedroom at his house in Hollywood Hills, California.
Paramedics responded at his house when Brittany’s mother, Sharon, called 911 at around 9:40pm. According to her statement, she found Monjack unconcious in his bedroom. LAPD detectives and coroner officials that were investigating on the scene had found neither foul play nor criminal acrivities involved.
According to the statement of Sgt. Louie Lozano, the preliminary cause of death of Monjack was said to be natural death like heart attack. Medical examineers confirmed that they have found some drugs that were recovered. But according to them, these drugs were just prescribed. Besides, they have found no traces of drug abuse in his autopsy.
Monjack was credited as co-writer and producer some films like “Two Days, Nine Lives” and he was an executive producer of the 2006 film “Factory Girl.” While Murphy was best known for her major roles in the films “Clueless,” “Girl Interrupted,” and “8 Mile” produced in 2002. She died in December 20 of last yeat, at an age of 32 after collapsing in her home. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office concluded Murphy’s death was accidental, and is likely preventable. Monjack and Murphy married in 2007.

Related posts:

1. Simon Monjack’s Death Bed
2. Brittany Murphy’s Husband, Simon Monjack Found Dead
3. British Scriptwriter Simon Monjack Found Dead

The American author, Mark Twain, will be popular in book stores again. Not because of his written works, but because of his autobiography.

Mark Twain is only a pen name. The real name of the author of “The adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He became the friend of artists, industrialists, and even presidents. His popularity and his imagination earned praises from critics. He was said to be the “greatest American humorist of his age” and even “The father of American literature” as William Faulkner called him.

Born in Florida, Missouri, Samuel Langhorne Clemens has encountered heartbreaking events like the death of his siblings and his father’s death when he was 11. However, his creative imagination has a big benefit for him since he had written a lot of great stories. When he was four, his family moved to Hannibal Missouri which later turned to be an inspiration for him in creating the fictional town of St. Petersburg in the story of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” however, at that time, Missouri is a victim of slavery so the young Twain became familiar with the institution of slavery.

Twain loves Science and Technology. Twain patented three inventions, including an “Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments” and a history trivia game.

Twain had many great works and he had contributed a lot in our history. He even tried to change the political world by stating in the New York Herald “I wanted the American eagle to go screaming into the Pacific …Why not spread its wings over the Philippines, I asked myself? … I said to myself, Here are a people who have suffered for three centuries. We can make them as free as ourselves, give them a government and country of their own..” These were some of his great words that were striking since he wants to awaken the Americans to let the Filipinos have freedom instead of colonizing them.

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Simon Monjack, the husband of the late actress Brittany Murphy, was found dead after five months after the Hollywood actress died. Monjack, a 39-year old British screenwriter,  was found dead Sunday night in the master’s bedroom at his house in Hollywood Hills, California.

Paramedics responded at his house when Brittany’s mother, Sharon, called 911 at around 9:40pm. According to her statement, she found Monjack unconcious in his bedroom.  LAPD detectives and coroner officials that were investigating on the scene had found neither foul play nor criminal acrivities involved.

According to the statement of Sgt. Louie Lozano,  the preliminary cause of death of Monjack was said to be natural death like heat attack. Medical examineers confirmed that they have found some drugs that were recovered.  But according to them, these drugs were just prescribed. Besides, they have found no traces of drug abuse in his autopsy.

Monjack was credited as co-writer and producer some films like “Two Days, Nine Lives” and he was an executive producer of the 2006 film “Factory Girl.” While Murphy was best known for her major roles in the films “Clueless,” “Girl Interrupted,” and “8 Mile” produced in 2002. She died in December 20 of last yeat, at an age of 32 after collapsing in her home. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office concluded Murphy’s death was accidental, and is likely preventable. Monjack and Murphy married in 2007.

No related posts.

I’ve got the world on a string/ I’m sitting on a rainbow/ Got the string around my finger/ What a world, what a life—I’m in love! More »










Astronomy – Amateur – Stringed – Music – Guitar

Filed under: Paris Motor Show, Crossover, BMW, Design/Style, Luxury

The 2010 Paris Motor Show may be five months out at this point, but that isn’t stopping manufacturers like BMW from getting the ball rolling on the long, slow, aggravating striptease of new models. The German manufacturer has just dropped a few sneaky shots of the all-new 2011 X3 for the motoring world to start speculating over. So what do we see? A hood, a taillight, a few body lines and not much else.

It’s clear that the hood now wears similar styling to what you’ll find on the 3 Series and 5 Series thanks to a few more contours than the previous piece. Beyond that, we don’t know too much about the new Bavarian high-rider other than it can whip up a bomb scare in a hurry.

Judging from the spy shots we’ve come across thus far, we aren’t expecting particularly dramatic changes to the X3’s exterior. A reworked fascia is likely to join the new hood and taillights, and there is some talk of a four-cylinder engine making its way under the hood for the first time.

[Source: BMW]

BMW teasing 2011 X3 well in advance originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 10:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Will & Grace star Sean Hayes will host this year’s Tonys.

Hayes has been tapped to emcee the 64th Annual Tony Awards — live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City — on Sunday, June 13, BroadwayWorld.com said Monday.

This is the first hosting stint for Hayes, who is also a nominee for in the category of Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in the hit stage play Promises, Promises. He was also nominated by the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle.

Earlier this month, the Emmy-winning actor was targeted in a controversial Newsweek article criticizing gay actor’s ability to portray straight characters.

The Tony Awards will air live on CBS (8PM-11PM) next month.

European markets were mixed in today’s trading, but Spain’s IBEX was noticeably lower, off around 1.3%, on concerns over the country’s bailout of regional lender CajaSur.

• UK FTSE, flat.
• German DAX, down .5%.
• French CAC, flat.

IBEX, down around 1.3%:

See why Spain’s problems are just beginning here >

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